Beautiful
by Charlie'sLostVampire
Summary: Elena Gilbert was insecure about her appearance. Not because she wasn't pretty; but because of who she looked like. Stefan had never been able to understand why she hated compliments. But can Damon? Post-4x08.


Self-esteem had never been an issue for Elena Gilbert. She had been fortunate enough to evade the cursed acne that had troubled all her friends for so long, and she hadn't had any issues with her posture. No, Elena Gilbert was always very confident that she was beautiful, or at least pretty.

That is, until she found out about her doppelgänger. Her evil doppelgänger that caused her more pain than possibly imaginable. The evil doppelgänger that hurt the people she loved. The moment she discovered she looked exactly like such an awful person, she began to hate it when anyone commented on her appearance.

Stefan never noticed. Rather, he noticed but never made anything out of it. He'd always assumed her uncertainty when he complimented her was simply average teenage insecurity, which only made him compliment her more often. He'd only been trying to be a good boyfriend. He had no idea the pain it caused her.

Damon, however, noticed straight away. It had been the morning after they slept together, and he'd been perched above her after their early excursion, brushing damp hair out of her face.

"You're beautiful…" he stated softly in the morning glow, and her blissful smile had slipped slightly.

"I'm not," she said quietly, and his lips pulled into a frown.

"What do you mean, you're not? Have you looked in a mirror, Elena?"

Flinching a bit, she cast her gaze away. "I'm just… _not,_ Damon. Okay?"

He didn't believe her for a second. If there was one thing he was good at, it was telling when she way lying.

"There's more to this than you're telling me…" he stated, brushing her cheekbone with his thumb. "What is it, Elena?"

"I…" frowning weakly, Elena responded quietly, "I'm not beautiful. I look like _her_, Damon. I hate it."

Damon frowned deeply at her response. He knew perfectly well that by "her", Elena meant Katherine. It made him sick that she thought she wasn't beautiful because of that bitch. "Just because you look like her on the outside doesn't mean you aren't beautiful," he assured her, and she frowned pitifully at her confession as she gazed up at him.

"I look like the woman who ruined your life. How can you possibly think I'm beautiful?"

"Because you have something she doesn't, Elena," he remarked simply, kissing her gently. "_Inner_ beauty…"

"Inner beauty?" Elena asked, resisting the urge to scoff. "Hardly…"

"It's true," Damon said firmly, and his tone made Elena glance up again. "You care more about others than yourself. You love so intensely that it makes it hard for you to think straight… and you always put other people's happiness over your own."

"I-" Elena started, but he cut her off.

"I'm not finished yet. Your eyes are also different from hers."

"How so?" Elena asked, furrowing her brow. "They're exactly the same, right down to the shade."

"No, they're not," Damon insisted. "Hers were always… dark, like she was plotting something cruel. That or they were glinting with mischief that would never end well. But yours…" Smiling slightly, Damon kissed each of Elena's eyelids and the crease between her brows. "Yours sparkle. They twinkle when you laugh, and they glitter when you're happy… yet they always give you away. It's how I can tell if something is bothering you."

Pulling her into his arms, he rolled over on his side and touched her cheek. "You're full of emotion, Elena, while she was cold and wicked. You're _beautiful_… and she never has been, nor will she ever."

Elena was completely floored. In a few short moments, Damon had made her feel better about herself in ways that Stefan had never even come close to doing. She had no doubt in her mind that she had _finally_ made the right choice…

"Thank you," she said softly, leaning into his arms and nuzzling her head against his bare chest. "That was… beautiful."

Smiling softly at her closeness, he tightened his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I try…"


End file.
